1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toilets, and more specifically to a toilet water tank refilling system for minimizing water expenditure and for promoting water conservation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern toilets consume more water than necessary. Part of this problem occurs when the toilet is flushed and the tank and bowl are refilled. The flush toilet includes a flush valve that includes a flush valve seat formed at the base of the tank and a valve body (either a ball or a flapper). The toilet handle has a lever extending therefrom, the lever having a chain at one end that is attached to the valve body. Then the user depresses the handle, the chain lifts the flush valve body from the valve seat, causing the volume of water in the tank to pass through the valve to flush waste from the bowl. The bowl has a trap defined therein that leads to a drain or sewer pipe. The influx of water from the tank into the bowl forces some water over the trap, starting a siphoning effect that empties waste from the toilet bowl.
The toilet has a ballcock and float assembly or fill valve for refilling the tank. There are many different ballcock and float assemblies. One type of ballcock assembly has a vertical tube with a float attached to an arm extending laterally from the vertical tube. Another type of ballcock assembly has a vertical tube with a concentric or cup-type float encircling the vertical tube. Within each different type of ballcock assembly, there are many variations in the construction of the vertical tube, in the construction of the valve at the head of the tube, and in the construction of the float. Regardless of type or structural details, however, ballcock and float assemblies function in the same manner.
The ballcock assembly is connected to the water supply, and includes a valve that is normally closed and blocks the flow of water from the water supply into the tank when the tank is filled to a predetermined level. When the toilet is flushed, the water level in the tank falls, causing the float to descend in the tank. This opens the valve to allow water to flow into the tank. As the water level falls, the flush valve body slowly re-seats on the valve seat, blocking the flow of water from the tank to the bowl. The tank then fills, raising the float. When the float rises to the predetermined water level, the float shuts off or closes the fill valve in the ballcock assembly.
The tank usually has an overflow tube that allows excess water to flow from the tank to the bowl if the water level should exceed the predetermined level set by the ballcock and float assembly. Virtually all ballcock and float assemblies also include a refill tube that extends from the fill valve and is clipped to the top of the overflow tube. When the float opens the fill valve, a portion of the water flows through the refill tube and the overflow tube. However, the maximum water level in the toilet bowl is determined by the structure of the trap. Any water above this level that may flow into the bowl through the refill tube/overflow tube path pushes more water through the trap and down the drain to the sewer, and is therefore wasted.
The present inventor has performed some testing where the refill tube was removed from the overflow tube and redirected into a bucket. All the water from the refill tube began to flow into the bucket from the time that the toilet was flushed and the flapper was lifted; it did not stop flowing until the float returned from the lower part of the toilet tank to the top of the tank and was cut off by the ballcock. Flushing a toilet showed that over a gallon of water flows through the refill tube, this being determined by the amount of water that flowed into the bucket. Waste was flushed from the bowl by the water released from the tank, but the bowl did not remain empty. Modern toilets are constructed so that the trap always fills quickly with water to prevent sewer gas and waste from refluxing back into the toilet. At some point when flushing the toilet, the bowl filled quickly with water, replacing the waste water with fresh water from the tank, always keeping a seal to prevent sewer gas from entering the room. In the inventor's testing, the water level in the bowl resulting from the above testing with the refill tube disconnected from the overflow tube was sufficient to flush waste, both solid and liquid, without the need of any water coming from the refill tube.
Assuming that an average person performs six flushes a day for a year, the water that flows through the refill tube results in a potential loss of a little over one gallon per flush, since none of the water from the refill tube adds to filling the bowl, but all of it is flushed down the drain or sewer pipe by the siphoning action that occurs when the toilet is flushed, or by pushing additional water through the trap to keep the maximum water level in the toilet bowl at the level determined by the trap. Thus, there is a need to eliminate the amount of water lost through refilling the toilet bowl through the refill tube-overflow tube path in the modern toilet.
Thus, a toilet water tank refilling system solving the aforementioned problems is desired.